


Bitten by Kindness

by wrelicofwren



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Humor, Lovely OCs, M/M, Non-Chronological, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 12:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5090693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrelicofwren/pseuds/wrelicofwren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of the unrelated Vaeyin x Faycen oneshots from my tumblr. I mean they're just the sweetest elf boys ever and this work, and all other about them, are dedicated to their owners!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enaykin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enaykin/gifts), [Valka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valka/gifts).



Lately Vaeyin hears the whisper of a song in-between the quiet moments he has at Skyhold. At first, he thought it was some new oddity from the bard in the tavern because honestly, what hasn’t she sung about by now? But whenever he walked by in the days that follow, there’s nothing that sounds even vaguely like the one lingering faintly at the back of his mind. 

It distracted him during a meeting with Josephine as he’s listening to her gossip on some Orlesian noble’s dinner party. He walked the ramparts with Cullen as he goes through field reports and taps his fingers along his leg absently, but in rhythm. 

One particularly tiring evening, he fell onto the bed in his quarters, barely mustering the will to remove his boots. There were reports and letters on his desk to be taken care of, but he only intended to close his eyes for a moment…

When Vaeyin opened his eyes again, it was considerably darker, and there was someone moving about his room quietly. Bright red hair and freckled skin in the soft light of a closing balcony door allowed him to shut his eyes again in peace. He listened as Faycen moved around, from the fireplace (which crackled louder for a moment), to the side of the bed. A rustling of fabric, and then Vaeyin felt the mattress shift as Faycen moved towards him.

Waking in Faycen’s arms was not unusual, and given a few moments he would’ve fallen asleep again. So he allowed himself to be drawn close to Fayen’s bare chest, not quite willing to let Faycen know he was awake for all of it just yet. And as he felt Faycen’s lips touch his forehead, he fought the mildly giddy reaction he felt bubble in his chest and kept his breathing even and slow. Calloused fingers traced the lines of his vallaslin across his cheekbone carefully, the gentle motions almost lulling him to sleep before he realised.

The song.

He could hear the song; a breathy deep thing with just enough variation to be called a melody. Faycen was singing, and likely had been singing to him when he was asleep for a while now. Heart swelling, Vaeyin was smiling before he realised he shouldn’t, and at once the singing stopped.

“Vaeyin? What are you doing?” The flat tone made Vaeyin look up, meeting Faycen’s eyes sheepishly. For his part, Faycen looked bemused, if not slightly regretful. There were several things Vaeyin could’ve said in that moment, he chose the direct route.

“I was… You were singing.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Faycen!” A pout.

“Vaeyin,” A raised eyebrow.

A few seconds passed like this and then, “Well I liked it. You sound nice.”

“….Nice. Nice?” There was a playful edge to his voice, testing the word out as he clambered on top of Vaeyin. His hair fell over his shoulder, eyes narrowing and his face catching a swathe of light. He looked beautifully dangerous. “Such slander, as if anything I do could be considered ‘nice’ in any sense of the word. Extraordinary. Terrifying,” he leaned down, teeth nipping across Vaeyin’s chin as the other elf inhaled sharply, his hands coming up to rest on Faycen’s lower back. 

“Cen…” Vaeyin breathed, the scrape of a tongue against his skin making him shiver. He was also certain Faycen was trying to distract him from talking about the singing. Curse him, it was working.

“Devilish,” a bite at the joint of his neck made Vaeyin whine and jerk, and Faycen smirked, busying himself with the buttons on the Inquisitor’s pyjamas.

A while later, when Vaeyin was tucked neatly against Faycen and the only thing between them was a light sheen of sweat and oil, he still remembered. Faycen was preoccupied with pressing kisses to his shoulder and neck, arms wrapping loosely to rest on Vaeyin’s stomach. “Faycen?” he whispered.

“Mmm?” Came the answer from behind him.

“I’m sorry I pretended to be asleep. I didn’t know you sang when I…”

“Hmmm.”

Questions burned at Vaeyin, but he held them in. “Did you always sing when I slept?” The song had only entered his mind in the past week, had he never noticed before?

“No.”

“Since when, then?” There was no response for a long time, only the quiet breaths that let Vaeyin know that Faycen was awake still. “Nevermind, you don’t-”

“You had a night terror.” Vaeyin blinked, turning his head slightly to show he was listening. “I think it had to do with the fire, you were very upset.” He didn’t remember having a nightmare recently; he must not have woken up. “I tried holding you and talking, but it wasn’t helping. I don’t know why I did it, but I started singing one of those stupid elf songs. You calmed down.” Oh.

But that didn’t explain why he was singing on this night, Vaeyin wasn’t even asleep, much less having a nightmare. Faycen continued, “It’s ridiculous that a song would help you. But if it stops the damn dreams before they start then…” Then Faycen had been singing to keep his rest peaceful, every night since then. 

Protecting him, even in his sleep.

Vaeyin turned, shuffling around until he faced his lover. Faycen was smirking, a loose mask to hide eyes that were guarded against embarrassment. Vaeyin couldn’t love him more. He reached out, fingers in Faycen’s hair as he tilted forward and kissed him deeply and deliberately. With foreheads touching, they shared the air for a moment when they parted, Vaeyin drawing Faycen’s attention with his name before he knew what he wanted to tell him. And he wanted to tell him so many things. In the end he settled for-

“Thank you, Cen.” _I love you_.

A subtle huff of breath, then “It’s late. Go to sleep”. _I love you too_.

Vaeyin’s eyes wrinkled with his edges of his smile and he hid his face in Faycen’s neck, drawing a quiet laugh from the dark-skinned elf as he wrapped around him. And if, as he drifted off, Vaeyin heard the murmur of a now beloved tune, he did little to get in its way.


	2. Weapon of Desire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faycen gets a bit jealous.

It was the Tevinter’s fault that his mood was foul, Faycen was sure. Dorian Pavus. A week hadn’t gone by since he’d followed them back from Redcliffe and yet he was flirting with Vaeyin at every opportunity. Everything about the man was pissing him off, from his facial hair, to his ridiculous clothes, to the way he spoke with such a pretentious expectation of everything around him.

He took only a modicum of delight in seeing that he was reviled by the general public as well, if only slightly less than Faycen because he didn’t practice actual blood magic. But he’d laughed for hours when Harritt spat ever so near to the man’s boot. The man even dared to deliberately ignore him; word of a practicing blood mage in the Inquisition would travel fast. Looked down on, by a Tevinter? It was laughable. Faycen didn’t like him, but Vaeyin did, especially after their private little daytrip to the ‘future’.

Vaeyin thought he would a great asset to the cause. So Faycen couldn’t get rid of him. And that pissed him off even more.

“You aren’t eating,” Vaeyin’s words returned him to the present, where they sat across from each other at the little table in Vaeyin’s room.

“I’m aware, but you can have my share of that greasy broth they call food,” Faycen said brightly as he uncapped the bottle of wine on the table and tipped it to his head. Vaeyin had brought dinner to his room, which was really _their_ room at this point, to escape the curious eyes within the expanding camp. Mages, soldiers, average people with nowhere to turn sought the Inquisition with little hope and even less coin. More mouths to feed, less food to share; it’s a wonder they could even hunt with all the bears around.

Vaeyin sighed, pushing the half-filled bowl closer to Faycen, “I haven’t seen you eat for at least a day.”

Wrinkling his nose at the soup… thing, he continued to drink the wine instead. Maybe with a bit more he could wash away the image Vaeyin smiling at Dorian. Fucking Dorian. “I’ll hunt tomorrow.”

Vaeyin gave him a disapproving look, but didn’t say anything else, finishing his bowl and moving it aside. He stood from the table and moved to his makeshift nightstand, picking up a pile of papers and bringing them all back with him to the table. Not again.

“You know what I’m really hungry for?” Faycen purred, setting the bottle down and sauntering over, slipping behind Vaeyin. He bent slightly, nibbling at Vaeyin’s neck and tracing a finger over the delicate tip of his ear as Vaeyin giggled.

“In a bit, I just need to finish responding these letters for Leliana,” Every time Vaeyin said something like that, he’d keep working until he was face down in the fresh ink and Faycen would have to carry him to bed. Not tonight. Instead, he started releasing the top buttons of Vaeyin’s shirt. The Nightingale could wait. “Faycen, stop,” He laughed, pushing Faycen’s hands away without malice.

So in response, Faycen grabbed the papers, sweeping them out of Vaeyin’s hands and off of the table. Startled, Vaeyin took only a moment before he stood and was reaching to get them back from Faycen. “I need those!”

“I have needs too. Or did you not realize we haven’t have sex in over a week?” So maybe he was a bit frustrated on top of everything else, but he hadn’t meant it seriously. Vaeyin took it as such though, his smile falling slightly as he let out a quiet breath and rubbed his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. With the mages coming and everyone getting ready to close the Breach, it’s so busy now. There’s so much happening and I don’t have much time anymore.” _But he had time enough to ask Dorian thousands of questions about his homeland._ And then Faycen was speaking before he realized it.

“Or maybe you’d rather fuck the Tevinter instead,” he said, severely. He didn’t mean it.

“What?” Vaeyin’s whisper was coloured in disbelief. Distress. Hurt.

He didn’t mean it!

“Why would you think I…? Dorian’s just a friend!” Faycen wanted to say that he was joking, that he wasn’t serious, but the muscles in his jaw had clenched tight and couldn’t speak. Why had he said that? The elf was too sweet to do something like that. Vaeyin must’ve taken his silence as doubt, as he made an upset noise and tried to meet his eyes. “Faycen, I swear!”

Heart rabbiting in his chest, he could feel more words biting at the corners of his mouth to be free. Petty accusations that he didn’t mean, that he knew would distance Vaeyin from him. But he didn’t want to say them; he didn’t want to hurt him anymore. Just looking at the anxiety he’d caused in Vaeyin made him feel ill. Why did he say that? He had to leave, he had to think.

Pulling away from Vaeyin, he dropped the letters on the table and headed for the door. “W-what are you doing?” He was running.

Faycen managed to force out a few rough words, “I’m staying out tonight.”

“Faycen?” The distraught call wasn’t enough to stop him as he opened the door, shifted into the wolf and sprinted to the nearest gate.

~—-~—-~

At some point the next morning, Faycen found himself sitting in the shadow of an overturned cart with a missing wheel. He wasn’t hiding exactly, he told himself as he snapped twigs between his fingers absently.

He was just actively trying not to seen by Vaeyin. Who was likely still upset with him and would want to talk. He didn’t really want to talk.

And there were some benefits to being an ‘evil maleficar’, as anyone who saw him suddenly needed to walk in whatever direction took them furthest away. So far it’d been working, but as determined footsteps approached him he realized luck could only go so far.

“You.”

Faycen held up a hand to shade his eyes as he looked out, immediately knowing who had come to him.

“Cassandra! To what do I owe your delightful presence this morning?” The mage grinned up at her brightly, receiving a disgusted noise for his troubles. The woman was only too easy to provoke. It was known that she didn’t like him very much, tolerating him only because Vaeyin was the Herald.

“I am loathe to come to you,” she began, crossing her arms over her armour-plated chest, “but I am wondering. Has the Herald mentioned anything… troubling him, to you?”

“Are you attempting to spy on him? How very unlike you.” He bared his teeth in a facsimile of a smile, but Faycen didn’t have to guess at what was causing Vaeyin concern. Vaeyin hadn’t told her then, not that he had expected him to. Best if he feigned ignorance for now, lest Cassandra end him then and there. “But no, we haven’t spoken.”

Accepting his answer, her frown only deepened, “I see. If he would not tell you, then it must be even more personal than I anticipated.” The words struck Faycen as odd, and as Cassandra turned to leave, he stopped her.

“Seeker?” Eyebrow raised, she looked back at the elf gathering himself to his feet. “Why would you think he would share anything with me?”

Confusion grew on her face, but her reply was steady, “Because contrary to the advice of several people, he continues to allow you to be close to him. He must share private thoughts with you that he ordinarily would not.” She paused, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him. “I would have thought that was the nature of your relationship.”

“Well it’s not,” He answered in reflex. Maybe he spoke too quickly, because Cassandra stopped scrutinizing him and relaxed, looking at him with something akin to sympathy. It made him unsettled, like she could see something he didn’t want her to.

“Are you certain of that?”

“Don’t presume to know things about me. It wouldn’t turn out in your favour,” he smirked, hiding his displeasure with the way the conversation had turned out. He was not in the mood for this.

Cassandra waved her hand dismissively, “I am only thinking of the Herald’s well-being. The mages will soon be ready to venture to the Temple of Sacred Ashes. He must be focused.”

“Close the Breach, save the world. He knows.” Faycen bit out, tired of talking and feeling the need to kill something. “That’s all you people keep him around for. If it were me I would’ve left you behind long ago.”

‘Thank the Maker then, that Andraste’s chosen is less obstinate.” She took her leave of him them, leaving Faycen surly and in need a new (not) hiding spot.

~—-~—-~

“Wildchild, you and the Boss have some kinda lover’s quarrel?”

“Oh, not you with this,” Faycen groaned, thumping his head on the tavern table as the Qunari came up to him. Seriously, what did he have to do? He’d spent most of the day hopping from place to place, never being able to settle for more than half an hour before he could smell Vaeyin nearby. The damned man never seemed to stop moving! Though, admittedly, he wasn’t trying very hard by sitting in the back corner of the tavern, just out of sight.

The safest place would’ve been deep in-between Leliana’s ravens, but Faycen wouldn’t allow himself. As certain as he was that Leliana already knew he was hiding from Vaeyin, he’d never let her see him do it.

“And a ‘quarrel’? Really? Is Vaeyin just shouting our problems from the rafters these days?”

Iron Bull laughed crudely, dropping into the seat next to him and making the table shake. Faycen just held onto his ale. “Not really. He’s just casually asking everybody if they’ve seen you today. Been through here three times.”

Faycen couldn’t help but grimace into his next sip. “He would,” He’d hoped that Vaeyin would find other things to keep him occupied, but it seemed he was spending every spare moment looking for him. Faycen didn’t know what to do with that, and felt strangely weighed down by it.

“And from the way you’ve been avoiding him, I’d say this is your fault.”

“Bull, I would rather throw myself bodily into the nearest rift than continue this discussion,” He knew a few hundred people who would be glad of it. _Like fucking Dorian._ But even that thought didn’t hold the same bite. The other mage had done little more than talk to Vaeyin and he’d gotten so hostile. Would Vaeyin be upset with him? Disappointed? He’d rather him be angry, honestly. At least then he might get shouted at or hit and he wouldn’t have to feel so guilty. 

He placed his face in his palms, exhaling lowly. As if Vaeyin would hit him.

Bull took in Faycen’s crumbling expression quietly, ordering his own ale before nudging the elf, “Not my business what it’s about, but I know your type. Don’t know how to let people in. Listen,” Faycen snorted, barely lifting his head to glance at the Qunari. “The Boss is a good guy, but he’s stretched thin. And I think you can be good too. Sometimes,” Iron Bull winked, and Faycen was startled into a laugh, easing the despair clawing at his chest.

“Oh Bull, you sweet-talker,” Faycen smirked, batting his eyes and shaking the self-imposed gloom off.

“And I’m hardly putting in effort,” They shared a brief laugh at that. Maybe if the timing of when they met had been different, Faycen would’ve slept with the Qunari. But right now Vaeyin was all he could think of, and as he went to take another drink of liquid courage, Bull covered the tankard with his hand and tilted his head towards the door. “Got the fate of the world in his hand. Go make something easier for him.”

“Fucking meddling Qunari… fine,” Faycen left the mug on the table, only mildly prepared to step out into the late afternoon and face the aftermath of his own foolishness.

~—-~—-~

“Faycen!” The elf almost walked out again when Vaeyin shot up from the bed and called him. Vaeyin looked worn, as if he hadn’t slept on top of searching for Faycen all day. His eyelids were darkened and his hair was untidy and all of it was his fault.

But before he could get a word out, Vaeyin held up a hand. “Wait,” he said, and Faycen did, watching as Vaeyin took a few breaths and closed his eyes. “Dorian is my friend,” he started, “and I like talking to him. He makes me laugh, and I think he’s clever but that’s all. We’re just friends. I know he flirts and I’ll ask him to stop if that’s what’s been making you think that–”

“I’m sorry,” Faycen interrupted, not willing to hear Vaeyin apologize for something he shouldn’t.

Why couldn’t he just be angry with him?

Vaeyin was looking at him now, uncertainty cluttering his features and making Faycen’s stomach draw tight. “I’m… sorry,” Faycen tried again, “You haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t really make apologies for things I’ve done, so this won’t be a ‘good’ one. But let me try?” Vaeyin glanced around the room as if he wasn’t sure, then sat back down at the edge of the mattress. Faycen sighed, in relief or trepidation, he wasn’t sure.

“People don’t care for me. Just the same, I don’t care for them,” He opened, inelegantly, “That has been a fact of my life for a long time, but you…” The words were fluttering away from him with every anxious heartbeat and he lost track of what he was going to say next. So he skipped ahead. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. You didn’t deserve it and I won’t accuse you again. But…”

“What?”

“I don’t know how to give you what you want.”

“What I want?” Vaeyin asked, clearly confused.

“This,” Faycen gestured vaguely to the room, but it didn’t seem to help. “Sex, flirting, I know how to do those very well, as I’m sure you’ll agree,” the light blush on Vaeyin’s cheeks reassured him enough that he might still be able to salvage this. “But this thing we’re doing? I’m going to hurt you again and again, and not hurting you matters to me.”

Vaeyin shook his head, still hung up on his earlier statement and needing an answer, “Why do you think I want anything other than what we already have?”

“You want something, I see it right now when you look at me,” Faycen was serious. Even though Vaeyin’s gaze was unclear, it was still there, toying with the strings that held Faycen’s heart in place. His tongue felt heavy as he forced out his next words. “But you _should_ want more. You should _have_ more.”

“I want you. No.” Vaeyin was already up again, crossing the short distance in a few strides and holding the freckled elf’s forearms when he started to protest. “You listen to me. I have spent so much time defending myself to humans I do not know and it’s exhausting that I’m about to do it with you. I know what I see in you and I know what I want.”

“You can’t–”

“I want you, Faycen!” He cried, cradling the man’s face in his hands so that he would face him. “I want your laugh and your stories and your kiss and your touch and you, I just want…” His breath hitched and he took a moment to duck his head and hide his appearance. His hands fell to Faycen’s shoulders, forming fists in the fabric of his vest. “Can’t I just have this? Is it so wrong that I care about you? Is it really so wrong?” It wasn’t more than a whisper, Vaeyin talking to himself, but Faycen could still hear him.

“Don’t,” he said, but couldn’t bring himself to finish. _Don’t care for me. Please don’t._ He wanted to say, but he craved the affection too much to do so.

Vaeyin seemed to understand anyway, looking off into the fireplace blankly as if it would give him the answer. “If you want to leave,” his fingers gripped tighter to Faycen’s clothes, “If this isn’t what you want, if I’m not what you want…”

That wasn’t it at all, and Faycen could’ve burst from the personal horror he was feeling at the idea that Vaeyin felt that way. “Of course I fucking want you, I–!” _need you_. He covered Vaeyin’s hands with his own carefully. “Vaeyin, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t!”

Vaeyin turned to him again, a small, sad smile on his lips, “Then let me have you.” He pressed a soft, chaste kiss to Faycen’s lips, and the heaviness he’d felt between them suddenly lifted. “All of you. Fenedhis, even the stupid part that is making me so frustrated,” Vaeyin laughed faintly, but it was best thing Faycen had heard all day, like auditory gold dust.

“Alright,” He agreed, drawing him close, willing to do anything to make him happy at this point. No one was ever going to make Vaeyin look or feel that way again, especially himself. “You will have me. In any way you want. As many ways as you want,” he smirked, and as Vaeyin blushed for the second time, Faycen was surer that they would be okay. “You’re such a fool,” he teased, finally feeling the buzzing unease retreating from his mind.

“And you’re an ass,” Vaeyin said brightly, poking at Faycen’s nose gently. But Faycen could see something still weighed on his mind, and they seemed to be sharing this evening. With a little persuasion, Vaeyin opened up, “I know I’ve been preoccupied lately,” he started weakly, “but a lot of things have to be in place in the event that I can’t close the Breach.”

He was worried about that? “What that little tear in the sky? Of course you can.”

“You’re all so sure,” Vaeyin tried to make light of it, but this truth of it was hitting him again now that he didn’t have Faycen to think about. Pulling away from the embrace, he sat back heavily on the bed, rubbing his shoulder again absently. This time, Faycen noticed it was the arm with the mark. He didn’t know what that meant, if it meant anything. “You know you’ll always have a place with the Inquisition, if I don’t survive this.”

_Don’t survive?_ The shock was enough to still him briefly as he sat next to Vaeyin, but he brushed it off just as quickly. “As if they’d let me stay. Or have you missed that the entire encampment wants my head?” he said lightly, not wanting to upset him with the facts. And there was nothing here for him without Vaeyin. Did he truly think he wouldn’t live past closing the Breach?

Vaeyin started rambling, playing with his fingers, “Leliana would keep you on as a spy, I’ve made sure of it.” What in Thedas was he talking about? Made sure of it? “And Bull said he would take you along with the Chargers if you wanted. You’d be safe and you wouldn’t have to be alone.”

What? Had he been talking to them about him? Making preparations in secret in the event that he… He really thought he was going to die on that mountain.

_No. No no no._ “Stop talking,” he said, momentarily lost. Everything had gone hazy in the distance and his pulse thrummed in his ears. How could Vaeyin have just forgiven him?

He didn’t understand. Vaeyin had been putting measures in place so that Faycen wouldn’t be out in the cold in case he died, and Faycen had thanked him by accusing him of wanting to sleep with Dorian? He’d never felt so small, so wrong.

“-ycen?” A gentle touch on his arm roused him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see concerned green eyes staring back at him. He remembered the inexplicable dread he’d felt as the Conclave exploded, almost certain that the kind person he’d known for so short a time was gone. He didn’t want that again. Faycen thought he knew so many things but he hadn’t known anything about this, what it meant to feel like _this_.

“You will be fine,” Faycen swore fiercely, face hardening as he came back to his senses, “I won’t let anything happen to you, so stop making arrangements for that.” It would never be an option as long as there was breath in his body, never.

Doing a poor job of hiding his smile, Vaeyin laid back on the bed with a small breath. “You can’t know that,” he said, reasonably, examining the ceiling. “Solas thinks the mages will be enough but…”

On impulse, Faycen joined the elf, laying on his side and propping himself up with his elbow. Brushing Vaeyin’s cheek with the backs of his fingers drew the other’s attention back to him, “You’re tougher than you think, and I know you can do this. Trust me.”

Vaeyin gave him a sweet smile, lifting his hand and combing his fingers through Faycen’s blood-red hair, “I always have,” he mumbled. After that, there was no helping it, Faycen had to kiss him.

He leaned in and Vaeyin met him readily, moving their lips together in a way that was nothing like the simple one they shared earlier. He pressed himself along the length of Vaeyin’s body, slowing climbing on top of him as he deepened the kiss and coaxing the elf’s tongue into playing as well.

The kiss was familiar and edged with the type of desperation that came from a future that was both unknowable and frightening; but they could have this at least. And if they were losing breath, it was because neither was willing to part for more than the second it took to gasp in air.

Faycen’s buttons were proving a difficult task for Vaeyin, his fingers clumsy and slow where they were normally quite nimble, and Faycen noticed. He pulled away from the kiss, amidst a soft complaint from Vaeyin, to really look at him. If the elf had seemed exhausted earlier, then Faycen knew he was just as tired now, even though he was visibly more at peace.

“We don’t have to if you’re too tired,” he said quietly, only partially caring about erection that had been building in his trousers. Vaeyin shook his head, tugging Faycen’s hair lightly to pull him back into the kiss, but as tempted as he was, Faycen held his ground, wanting a proper answer.

Vaeyin huffed, looking put out. “Maybe just… slow?” he answered reluctantly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to muster the energy to keep up with him, but still wanting this to happen.

“I can do ‘slow’,” Faycen chuckled, only more than happy to oblige. An idea formed and he grinned, backing away from Vaeyin and standing from the bed. “Take off your shirt and lie on your stomach,” he called behind him as he lifted his pack from the floor and rummaged through it for the elfroot oil. Turning once he had the vial, he found that Vaeyin had followed his instructions and was watching him through half-lidded eyes, head pillowed on his arms.

Taking a moment to remove his own shirt, Faycen clambered back onto the mattress, straddling Vaeyin and sitting back on his thighs. A soft ‘pop’ came from the vial as Faycen opened it, pooling a small amount in his palm. Curiosity was clear in Vaeyin’s gaze, but he let out a soft breath as oiled hands touched his shoulders and slid down to his lower back.

Faycen could feel the elf melting beneath his touch, murmuring a quick apology as he focused on a particularly sensitive area in Vaeyin’s left shoulder and the other flinched. “That’s okay,” Vaeyin grunted, enjoying the overall experience. Faycen snorted, adjusting in his seat as the little noises Vaeyin made whenever he found a tender spot weren’t helping bring down his erection.

“That good, huh?”

“Shut up,” Vaeyin responded just as Faycen pressed his thumbs into an area near his mid-back, his cheeks colouring as it came out a more of a moan.

Leaning down, Faycen butterflied kisses to the back and sides of Vaeyin’s neck. “Relax. I’ll take care of you,” he spoke lowly, deepening the flush on Vaeyin’s face. The massage continued for a short while until the muscles beneath his hands had gone soft and pliant. “Vaeyin?” he asked quietly, the only other sounds in the room coming from the hearth and Vaeyin’s soft breaths.

All he received in reply was a dazed hum and he smirked, ducking down to bite the edge of a pointed ear gently. Vaeyin gasped, the sound stifled by the sheets. “Turn over,” Faycen coaxed him, and he struggled to follow, feeling warm and boneless after the massage. Faycen considered it a job well done and he went in for an unrushed kiss as he settled between Faycen’s legs, grinding his hips slowly against the paler elf’s.

“Faycen,” Vaeyin sighed affectionately as Faycen made his way down the length of him, lips and tongue caressing him intermittently, making him shiver. He inhaled sharply at a bite to his nipple, tangling his fingers in Faycen’s hair. He felt his trousers being undone, then removed along with his smallclothes, and felt bad that he wasn’t contributing as much, but Faycen had unwound him so carefully that he couldn’t help but think that was the point.

Breath shuddering in his chest when an oiled finger teased at his entrance, Vaeyin opened his eyes, unsure of when he closed them, and found amber eyes almost glowing back at him, their owner obviously pleased with himself. Faycen pressed his finger inward, the task easy because Vaeyin was so relaxed. He resumed moving down Vaeyin’s body as he added a second thrusting finger, nipping and licking his way to his hips and groin but avoiding the obviously hardening erection.

When Vaeyin attempted to touch himself, Faycen brushed his hand away, making him whine in frustration. Faycen ignored it and continued to stretch him, biting down on Vaeyin’s inner thigh as he added a third finger, making the elf arch up off the bed and cry out.

“Inside, inside,” he panted, as Faycen twisted his fingers _just_ so inside of him, brushing the spot that would send him soaring. Faycen was quick to please him, painfully hard and trapped in his trousers as he was. He shed them and his smallclothes without delay, spreading the remaining oil, along with some pre-cum, on his heated cock. If Vaeyin wanted slow, he would give him slow.

Holding the elf’s thighs open, Faycen pushed into him steadily and took a moment to admire his work. There were small reddening marks spanning Vaeyin’s heaving chest and torso, and Faycen could tell which ones would last until the next day - the one on his thigh would surely bruise. Vaeyin was peering up at him through slivers of green, hands thrown above his head and hair in sweaty disarray as he bit his lip and moaned in pleasure.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Faycen groaned, hips flush against Vaeyin as he bottomed-out, fully encased in his tight heat. Vaeyin laughed breathily, breath catching as Faycen gave a shallow thrust. 

“Come here,” his voice was thick with lust as he reached out, grabbing onto Faycen’s shoulder and pulling him down into a messy kiss. Faycen kept his motions long and the pace steady, thrusting deep and hitting the bundle of nerves that made Vaeyin moan and writhe beneath him. It was taking every ounce of his control to not pound into Vaeyin wildly, but this wasn’t about him right now. “Fenedhis…” Vaeyin strained, breaking from the kiss and pressing his head back, hips canting upward to match him. “Faycen, please I need–” he broke off as a tremor shook through his entire body.

“Tell me,” Faycen said breathlessly, watching as his lover began to fall apart beautifully before him.

“Touch me,” he gasped out, wrapping both arms around Faycen’s shoulders, the friction between them not enough. The elf released one of his legs and Vaeyin hooked it around his back, and when Faycen reached in-between them to grip Vaeyin’s untouched member, he could’ve sobbed. Faycen stroked him in time with his thrusts - it was almost too much, and Vaeyin was losing himself in the heat between them, the heady scent of sex and lack of air.

“Close?” Faycen mumbled, nibbling on his ear, and all Vaeyin could do was nod desperately. He didn’t know how long they’d been going but he wasn’t going to last much longer. “Stay with me,” Faycen hissed, removing his hand to hold onto Vaeyin’s hip tightly. Faycen lost the last bit of restraint he had, snapping his hips forward in an almost brutal change of pace, and Vaeyin choked on a scream, biting down on Faycen’s shoulder.

His fingers dug crescents into Faycen’s back as he clung to him, and he knew he would have bruises from Faycen’s hands tomorrow but he couldn’t care less as Faycen drove him higher and higher to breaking point.

Faycen!” he screamed in warning a few seconds before his orgasm took over and he saw white, spilling himself between them as his body twitched and shuddered. Faycen was close behind, Vaeyin’s spasms sending him over the edge and he came, filling Vaeyin as he released inside of him.

Harsh breaths filled the room as they came down, Faycen tapping a kiss to the side of a weary Vaeyin’s head. He pulled out slowly, smiling at the soft grunt from Vaeyin, and he left the bed to get a damp towel. When he returned, Vaeyin was exactly where he’d left him, but fast asleep.

A strange warmth filled him at the sight, and he began cleaning him off anyway, the elf barely rousing the entire time. Faycen tossed the towel on the floor when he was done, drawing Vaeyin close to him and cradling in his arms protectively. The night was barely starting, and Vaeyin would be out possibly till the next morning, but looking at the peacefully sleeping face, Faycen knew that maybe one day Vaeyin wouldn’t want him to share his bed, but he would never mind watching over him like this while he could. Not one bit.


	3. Might Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was something he thought he'd gotten close to understanding, just maybe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit sadder but I'm very proud of the style.

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. But as he picked dried leaves from Vaeyin’s hair with a tender hand, he thought he might have. Maybe once, a long time ago, he had loved his parents but their choices had left a wound, an aching hole that had never closed but he filled instead with bitter resentment and anger to quiet the pain. Those feelings he could keep, could hide behind bite and wit as he learned how to survive with no one to teach him. Being with Vaeyin taught him there was more than just survival, if he chose it.

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. But cradling Vaeyin in his arms, sitting beneath the forest canopy, sparse rays alighting the face half hidden in Faycen’s neck, he thought he might have. Faycen had run through forests like these with his wolf pack, the closest he might’ve had to a family even if they weren’t elvhen. Playing with the pups, huddling in the snow for warmth, the wolves knew he was different to them but still accepted him, which was more than people had ever done. Until Vaeyin, that was.

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. But as he hummed softly, touching his lips to Vaeyin’s cheek as he rocked them slightly, he thought he might have. He had kissed others, slept with several, and maybe even pretended to love a few until it grew too difficult or too tedious. Fantasies of finding someone to share a life with were never for him, never what he wanted. Who could love him, why would they? But Vaeyin did. Had chased him down over and over to prove it, and a small part of Faycen hated him for it.

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. But as the gentle swaying gave way to shaking, and hot trails of tears burned their way down his face and onto Vaeyin’s still features, he thought he might have. Vaeyin had promised to stay with him, but that wasn’t fair. They had made promises to each other, earnest words riding on sweet touches and the fluttering wing-beats of hearts too senseless to know the world they lived in. Fate often made liars of those with the best intentions and the brightest souls.

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. But he loved Vaeyin. Had loved him. Still loved… but the dead can’t love back. Here, kneeling in Vaeyin’s blood and his own blood and the blood of Venatori who dared do this to them, Faycen realized he didn’t understand pain either. _Love is pain_ , someone had told him before and he hadn’t understood. He didn’t understand the screaming agony manifesting itself in the noise ripping from his throat but he knew he didn’t want this. 

Faycen didn’t understand love, or what it meant to love someone. Vaeyin might have told him once, shown him once. Vaeyin couldn’t tell him anything now.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is wrelic-of-wren ^^


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